Friday, February 4, 2011

The other night I got together with friends to eat and plan. Of course when you're getting together with food friends, you have got to go somewhere good..especially when your friends let you take pictures of their food before they even dig in. We decided to use my Living Social coupon that was about to expire and head to 8 oz Burger Bar, Govind Armstrong's casual burger joint exactly in between the sane and not so sane sides of Melrose Ave.

We decided to skip appetizers and get a few sides to go with our burgers and sandwich. Elliott and Katy insisted on ordering the fried pickles. I've seen them on menus before, but never really thought to order them. These came out mostly crispy on the outside and bursting with juiciness on the inside. I really like pickles, but I think I prefer to eat them without a crispy coating. They weren't bad, just not for me.

On the other hand, I couldn't get enough of the chorizo mac and cheese. It's perfectly creamy and the Mexican chorizo just blends into the sauce and makes it smoky and meaty tasting without actual chunks of meat.

We also shared the Caesar salad which tasted way more of anchovies than any other Caesar salad I've ever had. Since I happen to love anchovies, I gobbled it up.

I ordered the Melrose burger. It's a 6 ounce patty with arugula, roasted tomatoes, and red onion marmalade. I have a difficult time having a burger without cheese so I had them top mine with white cheddar. I loved this burger. It's a great blend of salty, slightly spicy from the arugula, and sweet from the tomatoes, and onion marmalade.

Katy ordered the Three Little Piggies burger. It's an all pork burger with fun toppings like pickled onions, pepperjack cheese, and poblano relish. I may have to try that one the next time I go back.

Elliot is not a big burger person so she got the short rib grilled cheese. It's also a great blend of sweet and salty with onion marmalade and bel paese cheese.

I really liked the cool, casual vibe of the restaurant as well as the playlist which was loud enough to hear (and enjoy some of my favorite 90s alternative tunes), but not so loud that we couldn't hear each other talk. The staff was friendly and efficient, but didn't make us feel rushed despite how packed the place was on a Monday night. I'm looking forward to going back and trying some of the restaurant's burgers and sandwiches. I can already hear the fried olives calling my name.

I've been to 8 oz a bunch of times and overall it's always been positive experiences... but sometimes they are wack with service and cut some corners in the kitchen. Also they used to have house-made sweet potato chips and then they got rid of them. Wack!

Anyways, your pictures make me crave a burger and I just might have to go there for lunch today. Also they often have this chocolate porter on draft that is oh so tasty!